


License to Grill

by Purplefern



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Barbecue, Dad Jokes, Fluff, Gen, Good Parent Jeremy Heere's Father, He needs more stories with just him and Jeremy, I am heere to provide, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mr Heere is a good guy, Post-Canon, Short One Shot, Still upset about Mr Heere's tag, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, lots of dad jokes, mostly pointless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:47:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24382282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purplefern/pseuds/Purplefern
Summary: The best dads barbequed. This was a known fact. Mr Heere wasn't going to let the fact that he had no clue how to barbeque ruin his quest to be a Good DadTM
Relationships: Jeremy Heere & Jeremy Heere's Father
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	License to Grill

**Author's Note:**

> (*gasp* A story from me not about the Squip?!)
> 
> It was recently Memorial Day in the US, and on Memorial Day people usually barbecue. I just was thinking about the Heeres and so I made this I guess. *shrugs*
> 
> Also random HC: At the Heere household it was actually Jer's MOM that bbqed, because she didn't trust her husband with flames.

Jeremy watched, frowning (though his mouth twitched as it threatened to turn into a smile) as his dad struggled to set up the long-neglected partially-rusted Heere family barbecue grill. He shook his head as his dad looked pensively at a bottle of lighter fluid, and told the man, “Dad, you don’t even know _how_ to barbecue”. 

Looking up from the bottle, Mr Heere turned to his son, smiling determinedly, “Yet!” he declared optimistically. 

Keeping his voice as deadpan as possible, Jeremy tried to appear unmoved at his father’s confidence, “You’re gonna burn the house down”. 

“I don’t think so, sport! Your old man’s got this” he said over his shoulder as he grabbed the charcoal and looked over its label as well. 

“Why do you even want to? We haven’t bothered since…” Jeremy let the sentence trail off at that. He was a little annoyed at his dad’s attempts, sure, but he wasn’t so mean to want to bring any of that up. 

Mr Heere paused only slightly as he busied around the old grill, his shoulders sagging for only a moment before visibly shaking it off and standing straighter. “Well, someone very recently finally made me realize it was time to move on with life”. Grabbing an apron from where it hung off of a nearby ledge, he threw it over his head and turned around dramatically, striking a pose to proudly show off his “Grillfather” apron. Grabbing a nearby set of tongs, he exclaimed far more enthusiastically, “That person _also_ made me realize it was time to be a better dad. And the best dads barbecue!” 

“So this whole tragedy is _my_ fault then” the teen lamented dramatically, groaning openly at the cheesy apron. 

His dad scoffed at his melodrama. “ ‘Tragedy’. Have a little faith in me, son, then you’ll see”. With that, he put charcoal in the grill and added what seemed like the right amount of lighter fluid, all while Jeremy looked on with no more confidence than he had before. 

“I don’t think so. I’m going inside where I won’t have to see _any_ of this trainwreck” the boy said, but contrary to his words didn’t make any move toward the house when his dad threw in a match. 

Mr Heere immediately jumped back a couple of paces when flames shot up from the grill and nearly into his face where he was leaning over it with anticipation. “Whoa!” 

“Dad! You ok?” exclaimed Jeremy from worry, breaking his sulky teen look for the moment. 

His father bounced back right away, and gave him a thumbs up and a way too excited look as he stared at the fire. 

Knowing that his dad wasn’t hurt, Jeremy gave him a smirk, reiterating, “You’re gonna burn the house down. This project is doomed”. 

Mr Heere tsked, holding up the tray of meat that he had set aside as he waited for the grill to heat up. “Jeremy” he told his son dead-seriously, “the steaks are too high to fail”. 

Predictably the teen groaned, covering his face with his hand and peeking through his fingers as if to make sure no one else had heard the joke. 

His dad noticed this, and grinned somewhat more wickedly as he placed the meat on the grill, adding, “What? Jeremy? You’re acting like I’ve made some kind of mis-steak”. 

He hid his head in his hands further, but against his will a smile was starting to creep up his face. It was nice, just goofing around with his dad again, and doing it while barbecuing just made the whole thing seem even more special. It was an old tradition given new life, something that their house had really needed. 

Fully grinning now, before he knew it his hands had retreated from his face and he was opening his mouth to retaliate, “Wow, a steak joke? How well done, that’s rare” 

There was a moment of silence as it all sunk in, before his dad nearly planted his face onto the burning coals as he doubled over laughing. He had a pair of tongs clenched in his hand as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. Recovering a moment later, he wiped a tear from his eye, remarking, “You have my gift. A father has never been more proud”. 

“Ha ha” replied Jeremy sarcastically, but he was still smiling. It turned more into a smirk as he nodded towards the barbecuing meat, “The steaks are burning”. 

Alamared, Mr Heere turned around to find the meat engulfed in flames, since he hadn’t waited until the coals died down to start cooking the steaks. A distinctly un-manly shriek came out of him as he frantically grabbed some tongs to try and save his grand dinner. He got the steaks out of the fire, but looked at the charred indistinguishable bricks despairingly. “Sorry, Jer” he told his son, the most downtrodden he had sounded during this whole experiment, as he looked at the ground in shame. Sighing, he said “I know this was always a special thing, and I tried to keep it going, but…” he trailed off, trying not to look at the flaming grill or the burnt steaks. 

Jeremy shook his head, but not annoyed this time, only in understanding. Hesitating slightly, he went to his dad and tentatively gave him a hug. It had been a while since he did that, he realized. “Dad” he reassured, smiling still from the exchange from before, “It’s whatever. It really doesn’t matter if you can’t barbecue. You’re a good dad” Pulling away, he coughed awkwardly into his fist and then added studiously, “That whole ‘dads have to barbecue’ thing is just a dumb gender stereotype anyway”. 

Mr Heere rolled his eyes, but now he was back to smiling too, though this was a far gentler smile than the ones from before. “Thanks, bud”. 

They both stood awkwardly for a moment before their gazes drifted back to the almost unrecognizable steaks. Thinking on it, the dad grabbed the ill-fated dinner and walked it over to the trash cans. Turning around towards his son, he clapped his hands decisively and declared, “Let’s order pizza”. 

They returned to the house debating on toppings, and leaving the beat up old grill behind them.

**Author's Note:**

> Grill puns generously brought to you by [ this Reddit thread ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Punny/comments/38tdtg/does_anyone_know_any_good_grillingthemed_puns/).
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this random little thing. I think the world could use some more fluff with Jeremy and his dad, because Mr Heere is a pretty lovable and goofy guy, he just doesn't know how to parent that well. Anyway, leave kudos, comments,etc. Thanks for reading.


End file.
